India on Thursday said it has raised concerns with the United States regarding US ambassador to Pakistan’s visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

A massive row erupted after US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome visited Gilgit-Baltistan and interacted with locals there. When asked about the US diplomat’s visit, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said,”Our position on the entire Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of India is well known. We would like to urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

As the row escalated, US ambassador to India Eric Garcetti was also asked the same question about his fellow diplomat’s visit to the PoK. “It’s not my place to react to the US Ambassador in Pakistan but he’s been before and we obviously had part of our delegation in Jammu and Kashmir during G20 as well,” the American envoy was quoted by PTI as saying.

Garcetti also stated that the Jammu and Kashmir issue has to be resolved bilaterally by India and Pakistan and not by any third party, including the US.

Blome paid a six-day ‘secret’ visit to Gilgit Baltistan in PoK, with the details of the trip kept secret by embassy and Pakistan government officials. According to Pakistan daily Dawn, Blome visited different areas and met local and government officials in Gilgit.

Last year, Blome had visited Muzaffarabad wherein he Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Dak Bungalow. India had raised the issue with the US side as the ambassador’s statement had mentioned PoK as ‘AJK’.

In April last year, US Congresswoman Illhan Omar had paid a visit to PoK, evoking strong condemnation from New Delhi. “She visited a part of Jammu and Kashmir illegally occupied by Pakistan. If such a politician wishes to practice her narrow-minded politics at home that may be her business, but violating our territorial integrity in its pursuit makes it ours,” Bagchi had said last year.